A Very Charming Christmas
by CandyApple75
Summary: The Charmings are celebrating their first Christmas as a family. Oh yes, it will be entertaining.
1. Lights and Carols

**Hi!**

**This idea has been floating around my head for a few days now. And now since it's officially the holiday season, I'm going to write it. **

**This is kind of a sequel to my story A Very Charming Thanksgiving. It has slight references to it, but nothing major. You don't have to read it to understand this. It's also in the same AU (Curse is broken but Snow and Emma were never trapped in Fairy Tale Land).**

**I don't own anything, but I'm putting it on my Christmas list!**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

**December 1st:**

"Emma! Emma, wake up!"

Emma felt someone shaking her shoulder and she swatted the hand away as she blinked the sleep out of her eyes. Snow was standing over her with a huge smile on her face.

"What is it?" Emma groaned.

"James and Henry are out doing some shopping. I want to put up some decorations before they get back."

"What time is it?"

Snow hesitated for a moment. "Time to get up?"

Emma grabbed her clock off her nightstand. It was six o'clock. "Seriously?" she said. "Can't it wait for, like, two more hours?"

"No. Now come on or the only music you'll hear from now until New Year's will be Frosty the Snowman, We Wish You a Merry Christmas and Winter Wonderland. And I'll play them all…day…long." At her last words, Snow's voice dropped to a low, threatening tone and she leaned in closer to Emma.

"I'm up!" Emma shouted. She all but jumped out of bed and raced into the kitchen. A mug of hot chocolate with cinnamon was already waiting for her. She grabbed it and noticed the stacked plate of pancakes cut into little Christmas trees. A bottle of syrup and a plastic container of red and green sprinkles rested next to the plate.

Snow entered the room and saw Emma start to reach hesitantly for the plate. "Go ahead," she said. "I'm just going to get the decorations. Once you're done, just meet me in the living room and I'll give you something to do."

"And if I refuse to help?"

"Walking in a winter wonderland," Snow sang with a smirk.

Emma screamed and covered her ears. "Alright! I'll help!"

Snow grinned and headed upstairs. Emma grabbed the plate of pancakes, drenched them in syrup and tucked in. They were chocolate chip with cinnamon. They were the best pancakes Emma had ever tasted. She polished off the entire stack in five minutes and got up to go help Snow.

There were three red plastic bins and a cardboard box with the artificial Christmas tree on the floor in front of the couch. Snow had taken the top off of one bin and was carefully placing a throw blanket with Santa Claus on it on the couch.

"What should I do?" Emma asked.

"Well, the bin closer to you is all the ornaments that'll go on the tree when Henry and James get back. I want them to help with those. Just open up the other one and go through it. I don't really know what's in it."

Emma sat down on the floor and tugged the top off the bin. Inside, she found an assortment of mini Christmas trees, a porcelain nativity set, an advent calendar and several strings of lights. She grabbed three of the little trees and arranged them in the center of the red and green tablecloth that now covered the table. She set the nativity aside for a moment and hung the advent calendar on the wall behind the table.

"What are the lights for? They go on the tree so shouldn't they be with the ornaments?" Emma asked.

Snow smiled. "Nope. Those are the lights that go around the apartment. You can grab a chair and just start stringing them around the ceiling. There are little hooks already up."

"No way. I'm not putting freaking lights around the entire apartment."

"Frosty the snowman," Snow sang.

"Oh no, you're not gonna get me to do it that easily."

Snow smiled. She stood up and started singing loudly. "We wish you a merry Christmas, we wish you a merry Christmas, we wish you a merry Christmas and a happy New Year!"

"Alright!" Emma shouted. She seriously regretted confessing that there were three Christmas songs that got on her nerves. She grumbled something that sounded like "Bah, humbug," under her breath as she dragged a chair away from the table and grabbed a strand of lights.

~*oO0Oo*~

After almost an hour, Emma was only halfway around the apartment. Snow was hanging some mistletoe inside the doorway. Just as she stepped back, Henry came barging into the room followed closely by James. Both of them had bags on their arms. Henry raced upstairs to hide his while James just dropped his purchases down on the couch.

Emma stepped down from the chair and peeked inside the bags. The largest bag held a small electric fireplace while the smaller bags contained things like candy canes, cocoa mix, candles and tinsel.

"Wow. I really hope these aren't my gifts," she said.

James grabbed the bags. "Nope. These are to help decorate."

Snow looked in the bags and smiled. "Thanks," she said. She turned back to Emma. "Get back up there and finish the lights and then you can be done."

Emma groaned, but she heard Snow start humming Frosty the Snowman and she immediately got back up on the chair.

"I'm putting them up," she grumbled. "Why are we doing this now? We still have twenty-five days until Christmas."

"Because tomorrow, I'm going to start putting together the Christmas pageant at the school. I want to get the apartment taken care of first."

At that moment, Henry came running back downstairs. "There's a Christmas pageant at school?" he asked excitedly.

Snow nodded. "We're gong to start practicing the songs and assigning roles tomorrow."

"When is this pageant?" Emma asked.

"Lights now, questions later," Snow snapped at Emma.

"I just want to…"

"In the meadow, we can build a snowman," Snow sang. She smirked as Emma turned back around and continued hanging the lights. She had a feeling that this Christmas, their first as a family, was going to be unforgettable.

* * *

**You like? **

**I'm really excited about this. I can tell you that there will be tons of fluff and plenty of family humor coming up. I hope you liked this chapter and I'll try to post the next one really quickly.**

**And yeah, those three songs that get on Emma's nerves get on my nerves too. And if you didn't sing when Snow was singing, then I commend you. I wrote the stuff and I still have to sing along!**

**Thanks for reading and pretty please with a cherry on top leave a review! **

**Merry Christmas!**

**~Candy =)**


	2. Paper and Glitter

**Hey again!**

**I want to thank everyone who took the time to read and review. You are all awesome and you all deserve cookies. Unfortunatley, I suck at baking so the cookies would probably suck. Mmmm, cookies.**

**I still don't own anything.**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

**December 4th:**

Emma still couldn't get over how great the apartment looked. The tree was set up in the corner next to the TV. There were colorful lights and ornaments hanging off of the branches. The electric fireplace that James had bought was plugged in and it cast a flickering orange glow around the room. The entire apartment smelled of gingerbread, chocolate and peppermint. And, as pointless as they had seemed at first, the lights around the room looked beautiful.

It was three o'clock on a Wednesday and Emma was at home. Hey, everyone needed to fake sick to get a day off every once in a while. All of a sudden, Henry burst into the apartment with Snow following closely behind, a giant cardboard box in her arms.

"I got it!" Henry screamed. He raced over to Emma and threw his arms around her.

"Woah, what did you get?" she asked.

"I got a part in the Christmas pageant at school! I'm Joseph and Paige is Mary."

"Oh really?" Emma thought for a moment, trying to recall who Paige was before she remembered that she was Jefferson's daughter. "That's great kid! So when is this pageant?"

"Christmas Eve. It's the finale of the town's annual Christmas party," Snow said. "It'll be amazing this year now that everyone has their memories back and can celebrate with their real families."

"I'm gonna go practice my lines," Henry said with a grin. He dropped his backpack by the door and raced upstairs.

Snow set the box down on the table and turned to Emma. "What are you doing home?" she asked.

"I'm sick," Emma replied. "Cough. Wheeze. Sick people noises."

Snow shot her daughter a peeved look and then proceeded to open up the box. "Well, if you're taking the day off, I could use some help with the decorations."

"What do you mean? We already put up the decorations."

"No, I need to make some things for the classroom and we also need some props for the pageant. Can you help?"

"If I say no are you going to sing at me again?"

"Nope. This is your choice. You don't have to help if you don't want to."

"In that case, I'll help. What do you want me to do?"

"Start cutting paper snowflakes. I'm going to work on the star."

Emma grabbed some scissors and a stack of paper out of the box and started folding and cutting the paper into little snowflakes. Snow had cut a star out of cardboard and was now digging in the box for her paint and glitter.

That was when James decided to come in. He glanced from Emma whose tongue was half out of her mouth as she maneuvered the scissors to Snow who was half hidden in the box. He slowly started toward the stairs before either of the women noticed him. A floorboard creaked under his foot and he groaned as his wife and daughter both whipped their heads around to stare at him. It reminded him of the deer on a nature special when they heard a hunter.

"Come help us out," Snow said. She gestured to the chair next to her. "There's plenty of stuff that needs to be made."

"It's for the good of the children," Emma added.

James scanned the room, weighing his options. Then he heard Henry come running down the stairs.

"Can someone come practice with me? I need a Mary," he said.

"I'll help!" James cried a little too quickly. David Nolan's memories of Mary Margaret's classroom at Christmastime and the props at the pageant told him that anything was better than working with the ridiculous amounts of paper and glitter that were required for the crafts.

"You will?" Henry, Snow and Emma all asked at the same time."

"Yeah…sure," James said. He really hadn't been paying attention to what his grandson wanted and he had no idea what he had gotten himself into. Until Henry told him that he needed to 'dress the part' and tied a sheet around him like a dress. Hmm. Was it too late to work with the glitter?

* * *

**That's all folks!**

**This was short, but sweet. There will be more coming _very_ soon. I hope to get Regina into the new chapter. Mostly because she's sitting here just waiting to get written in and she won't SHUT UP! She's really getting on my nerves.**

**Regina: I better be in here soon. I want to see my son.**

**Me: Yeah, yeah. Keep your pencil skirt on. You'll be in here soon enough.**

**Regina: Just please tell me I get a happy ending in this.**

**Me: Well, I don't want to give too much away, but this is going to be good.**

**Regina: Your definition of good or mine?**

**Me: We'll find out soon enough.**

**Don't you all just love sugar-induced insomnia? It gets you lots of randomness!**

**~Candy =)**


	3. Cookies!

**Yup. I'm back.**

**I'm so glad people have been enjoying this. I'm practically drowning in Christmas Spirit (is that a liquid or a solid?) so you can bet that I'll be quick to update this. Plus, that little Regina voice in my head has been driving me CRAZY all day (That actually sounds way crazier than it did in my head) so I had to get this posted to shut her up. Ahhh, silence.**

**Anyway, enjoy! Why do I always say that at the end of my A/N? Never mind, I'll probably never stop.**

* * *

**December 10th:**

Regina sighed. She was seriously lacking in the Christmas spirit this year. After all, Henry was living with Emma and the Charmings. Sure, she could use her magic to force him back, but he seemed so much happier with them.

She looked around the living room. It looked the same as it had all year. She had tried to at least set up the tree, but she found that she couldn't even look at Henry's homemade ornaments without tearing up. Just two years ago, she and Henry had decorated the whole house together, baked cookies and sipped cocoa in front of the fire. Those were the days. Regina wiped a stray tear off her cheek and turned her attention to the kitchen. As much as she would prefer to reminisce all day, she had to eat.

Just as she grabbed a can of clam chowder out of the cupboard, she heard a knock at the door. She set the can down on the counter and walked cautiously into the foyer. She peeked out the window. It was Snow. Regina opened the door and placed a hand on her hip.

"What do you want?" she snapped. Now that Snow knew why Regina hated her, there was no point in hiding it anymore.

"I just came to tell you that Henry got the lead in the pageant. I didn't know if he told you."

"Great. As long as no attempts to kill me between then and now, I'll be there. Is that all?"

"Well, I've been thinking and I wanted to…well, after Thanksgiving I just wanted to say that if you want to come over on Christmas Eve, you know, for dinner, you're welcome."

Regina was taken aback by the offer and for a moment, she couldn't think of anything to say.

"I mean, if you don't want to you don't have to come, but I just thought you could see Henry and not be alone on Christmas," Snow said. She looked at Regina who appeared to be frozen and then turned to leave. She half expected Regina to call her back, but there was no sound. Snow headed back down the walk, boots crunching through the thin layer of frost.

~*oO0Oo*~

Emma walked into the apartment. It had been a long day at the station with way too much paperwork. She plopped down on the couch and sighed as a puff of glitter rose into the air. Over the past week, the apartment had become a breeding ground for craft supplies. Paper scraps and glitter covered every available surface. Paintbrushes were soaking in the sink, foam stickers were stuck to the carpet and popsicle sticks were everywhere.

Snow opened the door and walked into the apartment. Henry appeared behind her.

"Where have you been?" Emma asked. "You guys are normally home before me."

"There was a pageant practice after school," Henry said.

"And I was just…grading some tests," Snow said. Emma knew that excuse was a load of crap, but she decided to let it slide for reasons that she couldn't even think of.

"So how's the pageant coming along?" Emma asked. "I can't wait to see it."

"It's great! I know almost all my lines and I'm almost done learning my song."

Snow smiled. "It is coming along rather nicely. I'm really excited to see it all put together."

"Okay. Now I've had one hell of a crap day, so who wants to bake cookies?"

"You can bake?" Henry asked. The look on his face was one of confusion and excitement.

"Well, baking and cooking are different right? I suck at cooking, so maybe I can bake."

"That sounds like rather faulty logic," Snow interjected.

"Shut up, no one asked you. So Henry, you in?"

"Sure," Henry said. "What's the worst that could happen?"

~*oO0Oo*~

Turns out that 'worst' was an understatement. By the time Emma managed to get the sugar cookies into the oven, there was batter all over the counter, flour dusting every surface like snow, sprinkles in the sink, eggshells in Emma's hair and butter all over Henry's cheeks.

Snow, who had been upstairs for the whole adventure, raced downstairs at the sound of the smoke alarm going off. She stopped when she saw Emma and Henry.

"Woah. What happened?"

"Um, I'm not really sure. We started out following the recipe and then…this happened," Emma said, gesturing to the disaster zone that was the kitchen.

"You two know you're cleaning this up, right?" Snow asked.

Mother and son nodded in unison and Snow put a hand to her head. "Have fun then," she said. "Oh, Charming's on his way home. He said he picked up Chinese for dinner."

"Okay. We'll try to clean up before he gets home," Emma said.

"We will?" Henry whined.

"Yes, we will. I can't be Cool Mom all the time. Since I'm now your full-time mom, I have to be Regina sometimes too. Now let's try and get this cleaned up before the cookies are done."

"Then I can have one?"

"Sure kid. You can have one."

Snow sat down at the table and started working on yet another crafts project for the classroom. She absently turned on the radio and grinned as Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer echoed through the apartment. Emma picked up a dish towel and twirled it around as she sang and wiped the counter at the same time.

Henry followed his mother's lead and sang along as he rinsed the sprinkles down the drain and placed the bowl and spoons into the sink. Snow was humming the tune as she wrapped gold tinsel around a wire circle to make a halo for on of the angels in the pageant.

Before any of them realized it, the timer dinged and Emma pulled the pan of cookies out of the oven. Henry grabbed one as soon as the tray touched the counter and he yelped as it burned his tongue.

"Little warm?" Emma asked with a laugh.

"Yeah, but it's so good!" Henry exclaimed. He ripped the rest of his cookie in half and gave one piece to Emma and one to Snow. Both women eyed the cookie as though it contained deadly poison before hesitantly biting into it. But Henry was right! The cookies were delicious. They were sweet and soft and melt-in-your-mouth creamy.

"So you did get a talent from my side," Snow said with a smile.

"I guess so," Emma replied. "And I guess my logic was right after all."

That was when James entered the room with bags of Chinese takeout in his arms.

"What smells like heaven?" he asked.

"Emma made cookies!" Henry said.

"Emma made cookies? And you both ate them? And are still alive?"

"Yes. And as a matter of fact, these are some damn good cookies," Emma said. "Here, try one."

At a nod from his wife, James bit into the cookie. It was absolutely amazing. "Wow," he said. "Just wow."

"Why do you underestimate my logic?" Emma asked. She crossed her arms and pretended to pout like a petulant child.

"Because I've seen what you do when you try to make toast. So either you have a natural, undiscovered talent for baking, or you just got lucky. My money's on the latter."

"Whatever you say," Emma said. Snow turned up the music and the little family forgot about the takeout and enjoyed Emma's cookies instead.

* * *

**Another chapter's come to an end. **

**I know, you're all crying on the inside (yeah right).**

**This chapter was supposed to have more Regina (and happy-ish Regina), but this happened, so I'm gonna roll with it. So we ended up with poor, lonely Regina and cookies. That actually sounds like a really good combination right now. **

**Now if you'll excuse me, it's eleven at night and I have homework to do. But, Christmas (and annoying mayors that have taken up residence in my head) stops for no one!**

**~Candy =)**


	4. Christmas Shopping

**Like I said. Drowning in Christmas Spirit. **

**This fic has been in my head non-stop today and I HAD to write more. Well, at least with all these constant updates, this will be over before it's actually Christmas! **

**Sorry for any typos. Like most of my stories, this was written late at night when I couldn't sleep and should have been using that energy to do homework. But I don't. :p **

**Still don't own anything. Don't rub it in.**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

**December 13th:**

After the adventure with the cookies, Emma found that she was really getting into the Christmas spirit. In fact, she was actually almost excited to brave the throngs of people so that she could do some shopping. She headed down to the center of town and tried to sort through the list of people to buy gifts for.

Snow, James and Henry needed gifts. Emma decided to get Ruby and Granny something too. She kind of still needed to make up for almost stabbing Ruby during Thanksgiving dinner anyway. She tried to think of anyone else. Oh wait, Regina. Sure, Emma despised the mayor, but in the spirit of the season, she decided to get her something. And then she'd get Archie and the dwarves some chocolate or make them some cookies or something.

She figured she'd get something for Henry first and then she'd focus on other people. The toy store was probably the best place to start. She tried to think of something that he might like. After all, what do you get for a kid that says 'Sorry for giving you up for adoption and for not believing you when you told me that your adopted mother cursed a bunch of fairy tale characters and sent them to Maine'? Maybe a Lego set?

She stepped into the toy store and was overwhelmed by…well, everything. The entire store was decked out with paper chains and snowflakes. There was an electric train set snaking around a table in the center. A giant Lego Santa Claus stood by the counter and the candy display had changed from the usual brightly colored wrappers to entirely red and green wrapped chocolate bars.

Emma stopped for a moment and then remembered what she needed to do. She needed to get a gift for Henry. She walked to the back of the store and browsed the displays of toys and games. She considered a wooden sword, but then remembered that he was the grandson of Prince Charming. There was no way he'd get a wooden sword. The Lego sets were passed up because Emma knew she'd end up stepping on them eventually.

She ignored the games because they were just not Henry. Finally, she resigned herself to the fact that she needed to find him something elsewhere. She headed out the door and went to the next place she thought of. The pawn shop. There, she found something for just about everyone on her list except for Henry and Regina. Emma sighed and started walking. Before she knew it, she was opening the door to the library and walking inside.

Belle looked up when she heard the door open. "Oh! Hi, Emma," she said. She set down the book that was in her hand and smiled.

"Hey…" Emma said. The young woman seemed familiar, but she was blanking on the name.

"Oh, sorry. I'm Belle."

"That's right. You're Gold's …oh please don't make me say it, it sounds so weird and kind of gross."

"That's right. I'm his girlfriend. And you're Emma Swan."

"Actually right now, I just go by Exhausted," Emma said as she collapsed into a chair. "I just got presents for almost everyone except for Henry. I finally understand the meaning of shop 'til you drop."

"You need a present for Henry?" Belle asked.

"Yeah. I was going to get him something from the toy store, but nothing really seemed right. You got any ideas?"

"Hold on a second," Belle said. She disappeared into the back room and then reappeared a moment later. "Give him this. I think he'll like it."

Emma looked down at the item. It was a leather-bound copy of Grimm's Fairy Tales. "You're sure no one will, like, take offense to this or anything?"

"The brothers Grimm were known to…exaggerate the stories. Nothing in that book actually happened. Henry's book is the only 'real' book. The rest actually are all just fairy tales."

"Okay, what do you want for it?"

"Just let me know how he likes it."

"Seriously?" Emma asked.

"Seriously," Belle replied. "Besides, I've been trying to get rid of that book for quite some time now. Now one in town wants to read it."

"Thanks so much!" Emma exclaimed. "He's gonna flip over this!"

"No problem," Belle said with a smile. "And tell him he's welcome to come visit me anytime he wants to."

"Will do," Emma said as she walked out the door. She had to get home. She had presents to wrap.

~*oO0Oo*~

Emma locked herself in her room and dumped the wrapping supplies on the floor. That's when she finally emptied her arms of all her purchases. She was actually really surprised that no one had taken everything from the pawn shop already. After all, it contained all the items that had come to Storybrooke with the curse.

She had gotten almost all of her sopping done there and had gotten James his sword, Snow her bow and arrows, Ruby her cloak and Granny her quiver of bright red arrows for her crossbow. Plus, there was something special for Snow and James.

Emma started wrapping everything. It was then that she realized that she sucked at wrapping. It took her almost ten minutes to get the book wrapped and even then it was wrinkly and uneven. So, she slapped a bow on it and attempted to figure out how one would go about wrapping arrows.

She turned on the radio and tuned it to Christmas carols. And the first three songs that she heard were Winter Wonderland, Frosty the Snowman and We Wish You a Merry Christmas. Finally, she got everything wrapped an added her gifts to the small pile under the tree. And then she remembered that she still needed to get Regina something. What the hell had she gotten herself into?

* * *

**Believe it or not, this chapter is not based off of me at all! (gasp!)  
I actually make most of the presents I give to people, plus I am AWESOME at wrapping. Now I'm going to start working on the next chapter because guess who's back in my head? If you guessed Regina then you're right. **

**I'm gonna shut up now and just say thanks for reading and keep and eye out for the next update!  
~Candy =)**


	5. Letters to Santa

**I just want to say, I LOVE writing this and I am so glad that people have been enjoying it. Seeing new reviews makes me so happy and I love seeing it get added to people's favorites. You all rock like jingle bells!**

**Now seeing as I'm getting crushed by the solid manifestation of Christmas Spirit (candy canes, presents and cookies), you get some more Charming Christmas fluff!**

**Thanks to riverkirby for the idea for Henry's present to Regina. I thought that was so sweet and I just had to use it.**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

**December 15th:**

Henry was sitting on the floor, scribbling furiously on a piece of notebook paper. Emma and Snow were sitting in the kitchen. They had been watching him for a good ten minutes and the only change had been the blur of his hand moving back and forth across the paper.

Finally, Emma stood up. "I have no idea what he's doing, but I'm gonna go find out."

Snow nodded absently as Emma walked into the living room and knelt down on floor next to her son.

"Hey kiddo," she said. "What are you doing?"

"Writing my letter to Santa. I need to get it done. Otherwise it might not get to the North Pole in time for Christmas."

Emma tried to look at the paper, but Henry just jerked it away.

"You can't look at it," he said.

"And why not?" Emma asked.

"Because, it's special. You can't just _look _at it."

"I just want to see what you want for Christmas. And, wait a second. Last Christmas you didn't write Santa a letter. What makes this year so special?"

"He hasn't been able to come before. The curse kept people from entering. But now that it's broken, he can come!" Henry turned back to his paper and scribbled down a few last words before he tore the page out of his notebook. He grabbed an envelope and stuffed the letter into it.

"I'm gonna go mail this," he said.

"What do you mean you're gonna mail it?"

"I mean, I'm going to walk down to the post office, address this to the North Pole and drop it into the outgoing mailbox. And I have to do it now because it won't get there on time if I don't," Henry said.

"You're not going down there by yourself."

"Why? It's only noon, I'm ten years old and we live in a town of fairy tale characters. The only 'bad' people are my mom and Rumplestiltskin and they're not stupid enough to give the people a reason to kill them."

Emma opened and closed her mouth as she tried to think of a response, but she couldn't. "Have fun then," she said. Henry slipped on his jacket and grinned.

"I won't be long!" he called as he raced out the door. Emma groaned and walked into the kitchen.

"Did I do that right?" she asked.

"Do what right?" Snow asked.

"Okay, what's up with you? The past few days you've been kind of out of it. Are you all right?"

"Huh? Oh yeah, I'm fine. Just stressing over the season I guess. We never celebrated Christmas back home and with having my memories back…it's just a lot to take in. I'll be fine."

"Whatever you say," Emma said as she lounged back in her chair with a mug of hot cocoa in her hands. "Whatever you say."

~*oO0Oo*~

Henry made his way downtown with one hand holding tightly to his letter and the other in his pocket. He was actually a little surprised that Emma had let him go to the post office by himself, but he was happy. This way, he could take care of his secret business too.

He dropped his letter in the mailbox outside the post office and walked into the book store. He knew exactly what he needed to get. Henry strode with confidence to the back of the store and found the small display of digital picture frames. He was relieved when he saw that they were only five bucks. He had brought seven.

He bought one of the frames and started to head home. He had work to do.

~*oO0Oo*~

Back at the apartment, James was watching TV on the couch. Snow was painting something, most likely yet another prop for the play, and Emma was…nowhere to be seen. Henry entered the apartment, hung up his jacket and carried his purchase upstairs. He sat down on the floor of his bedroom. It had been a storage room until about a month ago, but it was now Henry's room.

Henry opened his desk drawer and found his laptop. He quickly opened the frame, plugged it into the computer and started uploading the pictures. After a few minutes, he had all five pictures on the frame. He replaced it in the box and carefully wrapped it in some snowman wrapping paper.

Henry raced back downstairs and all but threw his gift under the tree. He heard laughter and turned to see Emma and Snow in the kitchen. Emma had a banana in her hand.

"…'cause she needs a new fruit for the winter!" Emma exclaimed.

Snow giggled. "Well it's…original alright."

"That's what I'm aiming for. Anyway, I'm starved. What's for dinner?"

"I'm making spaghetti. It'll be ready in just a minute. Why don't you set the table?"

Emma grumbled something incoherent, set the banana on the counter and grabbed some plates out of the cabinet. She saw Henry and smiled.

"Did you get your letter to Santa?"

"Yup. It's all mailed out. Now I just hope he gets it before Christmas."

I'm sure he will," Emma said. "Now help me out and get the silverware please."

Henry grabbed a handful of forks and set them out next to the plates.

"Who's coming over for Christmas Eve anyway?" Emma asked as Snow brought in the bowl of pasta.

"Well, Ruby and Granny are coming. I invited the dwarves and Archie, but they all said they were busy. Oh, and I invited Regina too."

"You WHAT?!" Emma and Henry cried at the same time. James, who was still sitting on the couch, leapt up and looked over at the kitchen.

"I invited her over. Calm down. I don't even know if she wants to come, but in the spirit of the season and considering how Thanksgiving went, I thought I'd at least give her the option to come over."

"Why would you do that?" Emma asked. "If she comes, it'll just end up being 'Ho, ho, ho. Merry Bitchmas.'"

"Funny. It seems that less than a month ago, you were arguing that 'as totally messed up and crazy as our family tree is, Regina still has a place on it. And she's Henry's mother by law. And she could totally use her magic against us if we piss her off. And…'"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. I get it. And I seem to remember saying something other than 'messed up'. Maybe it's just me, but I remember there being swearing."

Snow blushed. "Just sit down. We still have almost a week to worry about this. Let's just have dinner and think about it later."

Emma, Henry and James all sat down to dinner. Snow was right. There was still a week left to deal with this.

**Kay. I want to leave the next chapter up to you guys. If you want me to, I can do one more chapter of this 'preparing for Christmas' fluff, or I can skip to the first chapter (oh yes, there will be several) about Christmas Eve. Leave your choice in the comments. The one with more votes wins.**

**Anyway, I hope your holidays are going well so far and that you have an ah-mazing Christmas!**

**~Candy =)**


	6. Let it Snow

**The votes are in! And…it was a tie! So I'm making the executive decision to start Christmas Eve for two reasons. 1. I am in pain right now (thank you, gym class) and 2. I tried to write some more preparations, but all that came out was some vaguely depressing (and rather humorous) songfic type thing. Which I might post as a separate thing if enough people want it. **

**I can promise you there will be AT LEAST two or three (or four) more chapters about Christmas Eve, cause there's a lot that can be crammed into one night. **

**And I apologize in advance for any typos due to limited use of my right arm. **

**Enjoy!**

* * *

**December 24th 6:00 a.m.:**

Emma groaned. Henry was kneeling on the bed and shaking her shoulder.

"What's going on?" she asked as she rubbed her eyes.

"It's Christmas Eve! You have to get up! Right now!"

"Ugh. What time is it?" Emma asked. She groped around on her nightstand before she found the clock. She brought it closer to her and narrowed her eyes at Henry. It was too damn early to be up.

"Gramma made me!" Henry cried as he raced out of the room.

Emma grumbled something unintelligible under her breath as she rolled out of bed and headed down the stairs. She almost couldn't believe it was actually Christmas Eve. Sure, they had been preparing since practically the day after Thanksgiving. And yet, the month had just flown by in a blur of decorations, crafts, shopping and cookies.

Snow and James were already up. The apartment smelled of pancakes, chocolate, peppermint and gingerbread. James was adding some wrapped presents under the tree. Snow was making breakfast and Henry was just one giant ball of energy, flying around the room in his blue footie pajamas.

"Why do I have to be up so early?" Emma asked as she shuffled into the kitchen. She grabbed a plate of pancakes and drenched them with syrup and sprinkles before she sat down.

"Because we have a big day today," Snow said. "The town party starts at three and ends at six. After that, Ruby, Granny and possibly Regina will be coming over for dinner. And I have one last pageant practice at the school at noon and we have some last minute shopping to do and we need to make cookies and start dinner and…"

"Calm down," James said as he walked into the kitchen and grabbed his own plate of pancakes. "Everything'll be fine. You worry about the pageant practice, I'll do the shopping and Emma can bake the cookies."

"Emma can do what now?" Emma asked.

"You can bake cookies," James said.

"Are you sure? I mean, I think I just got lucky last time. Maybe we can wait and do them with everyone after the party."

"That's not actually a bad idea," Snow said thoughtfully. "You know what? What if Emma does the shopping, I'll do the pageant practice and you," she said, turning to James. "Can cook dinner."

"I can what now?" James asked. "You know the extent of my cooking skills is heating up frozen dinners in the microwave. I'm not making Christmas dinner!"

"Oh yes you are," Snow said. "Unless you actually _want _to go shopping." She raised an eyebrow at him.

"No," he said with his head down. "I just said that so you wouldn't freak out."

"Alright then. Besides, it's not like we're having Thanksgiving dinner here. Maybe we'll have…"

"Chicken stew!" Emma shouted. Snow and James turned to look at her and Henry skidded to a stop. "What?" she asked. "I like chicken stew. And besides, what do people eat on Christmas?"

"I think ham. Or maybe it's turkey," Snow said.

"Well, we don't have either of those, but we have chicken. Maybe we can start a new tradition."

"Chicken stew isn't that hard to make," James said. "I bet I could pull it off."

"Alright," Snow said. "We'll have chicken stew for dinner. Now let's just all have breakfast and then we can figure everything else out."

Emma, who was already halfway done with her pancakes, grabbed several more and smiled as Henry slid into the chair next to her. James turned on the radio and wrapped Snow into a hug as Let it Snow rang through the apartment.

"Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow," he said as he swayed with her.

"Charming," Snow said as she blushed and playfully slapped his arm.

James just grinned bigger and leaned over the back of Emma's chair to plant a kiss on her forehead. "Merry Christmas, Baby," he said.

"Marry Christmas…" Emma hesitated for a moment before saying, "Dad."

James's smile got even bigger. He ruffled Henry's hair and sat down to a plate of pancakes.

Emma was so excited that she felt like she was about to burst. She was even more excited than Henry. At least her son had had _some _happy Christmas memories with Regina when he was younger. Emma didn't have a single Christmas memory that wasn't shoved in the darkest place in her mind. But this year was going to change all that. She could feel it.

* * *

**Okay. So this was much shorter than I expected, but there it is. I hope you enjoyed and I'll give you something longer tomorrow (hopefully). I just needed something to set up the rest of the day. And I needed some James/Emma/Snow cuteness. **

**And like I said, if enough people want to see the randomness that came when I was trying to write some more fluff, then I'll post it. Let's say…five people. If five people want it, I'll post it. **

**Anyway, you know I love you all and I can guarantee you some laughs coming up soon! **

**Merry Christmas everybody!**

**~Candy :)**


	7. Another Present?

**Who's ready for more Christmas Eve-ness? I know I am! I really enjoyed writing this chapter and I hope you guys enjoy reading it. The next one is the one that I've been SUPER excited to write and I'll try to get to get it up ASAP.**

**And honestly, I have no idea how to make chicken stew. I'm certainly not James in the kitchen, but I'm not a master chef either. So I apologize if I fudged up the recipe at all.**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

**December 24th 9:00 a.m.:**

Emma tugged her jacket tighter around her and wondered for the fifth time in ten minutes why she had let herself get roped into this. She trudged down the sidewalk towards the grocery store and sighed with relief as a puff of warm air met her at the door.

She grabbed a basket and headed to the aisles. She glanced down at the list in her hand. She had to get rolls, butter, bouillon cubes (whatever those were), carrots, potatoes, onions and whipped cream. And when she was done, she had to go back home, drop the food off and then go finish her gift shopping.

The first thing Emma found was the vegetables. Then she grabbed the rolls, butter and whipped cream. Finally, she started wandering around looking for bouillon cubes. She considered texting Snow and asking where the hell she would find them when she nearly walked straight into a display of small plastic containers. She grabbed one of the containers and read the label. Bouillon cubes!

Emma grabbed three of the canisters and raced towards the checkout. Within fifteen minutes, she was banging open the door of the apartment and setting the bags down on the table.

James was standing by the counter chopping chicken. "Thanks," he said. "Did you get everything?"

Emma nodded and James wiped his hands on a towel and started to rifle through the bag.

"I've gotta get going," Emma said. "I've still got some last minute shopping to do."

"Have fun!" James called as she raced out the door.

Back downtown, Emma struggled to think. She had gotten everything she could from the pawn shop, had thought up and extra gift for James and Snow and technically, she had a 'gift' ready for Regina, but she really didn't think the mayor would like it. So she had to find something else.

It took a good hour and a half of searching before she finally thought of the perfect present. She ran towards the library. She had some work to do.

~*oO0Oo*~

As soon as Emma, Snow and Henry left, James set to work figuring out how he was going to make chicken stew. Emma was out getting the stuff Snow had told her to get and she'd be back pretty soon. She'd probably want to see him doing something.

James reached into the fridge and pulled out the package of chicken breast. He had no idea what to do with it. Twenty minutes searching for instructions revealed that he needed to cut the chicken and put it into the broth.

He went back to the kitchen and found some broth in a cupboard. He poured it all into a big pot and set it on the stove to heat up. Then he grabbed a knife and started to cut the chicken. He had a feeling that this wasn't going to end well. After just narrowly avoiding slicing his finger off for the third time, Emma appeared with a paper bag in her arms.

Just as he was going to ask her to stay and help him out, she took off. _I better be getting some good presents with all the time she's spent shopping, _he thought. He reached into the bag and found some potatoes. He could at least mash some potatoes. The chances of losing a finger doing that were much slimmer than cutting chicken.

This was going to be a great Christmas, but maybe a not so great dinner. Oh well, stupid traditions had to start somewhere, right?

~*oO0Oo*~

Snow grinned as she entered her classroom. It was just so…Christmas-y. There were paper snowflakes hanging from the ceiling, drawings from the students on the walls and a Charlie Brown Christmas tree in the corner. On Friday, the tree had stood over a pile of goody bags for her students, but it was bare now.

She started to gather all of the things for the play into a box. She tossed in all the halos, stars, robes and staffs and topped everything off with the plastic doll that would be baby Jesus.

There was still two and a half hours before the kids would be ready to rehearse and Henry was…wait a second. Where was Henry? Then Snow remembered that he was going down to the square to watch the dwarves set up the stage. She breathed a sigh of relief. This meant she had time to work on the gifts.

She set the box of play stuff on the floor and made her way to the art room. It was there that she was hiding all the presents for James, Emma and Henry. Almost everything was wrapped in white paper with blue snowflakes on it. Well, everything except for the shoe box. She carefully reached into her coat pocket and pulled out the last few pictures.

Snow let the pictures flutter down into the box before closing it up and wrapping it. She was so excited for tomorrow. Their first Christmas as a real family. Just the thought sent shivers down her spine. It was going to be magical.

~*oO0Oo*~

Regina stared out her window. She had decided that she was going to go to the Charming's for Christmas. Stupid Christmas Spirit. It was making her feel all sentimental and happy. There was just one thing missing. And then it hit her. There was no snow. This was going to be the town's first real Christmas and there was no snow. Just a thick layer of frost.

Well, something would have to be done about that. Regina looked back at the coffee table where a stack of presents waited to be taken with her later tonight. She thought about it for a moment longer and decided that maybe she had room in her heart to give just one more present this year.

* * *

**But what is this present? Well you'll just have to wait and find out! I hope you enjoyed and I'm SUPER excited for the next chapter. I think you're going to love it.**

**Just so you know, I'm going to start working on the next chapter tomorrow, but it might not be posted until Sunday because I've just got so much going on right now. I'll try to update sooner, but no guarantees.**

**As always, thanks for reading and please review if you enjoyed!  
~Candy :)**


	8. More Cookies!

**Alright. Sorry this took me so long to post, but these past few days have been CRAZY! I just want to say that this chapter has been written and re-written and edited and deleted and re-re-written more times than I can count. I was going to write a chapter about the pageant itself and the town party, but it just would not work in my head. So you get this instead!**

**And I'm going to tell you that this chapter was actually supposed to be the start of the story. I'm serious! You don't realize how close you all came to having a three or four chapter Christmas story! No lights or cookies or shopping or anything! But that didn't happen.**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

**December 24th 6:15 p.m.:**

"I can't believe you broke baby Jesus," Emma said as she unlocked the apartment door and threw a plastic doll, with its head duct taped to its body, onto the couch.

"You were the one that kept pulling on it," Regina retorted. She followed Emma into the room and hung her coat on the back of a chair.

"That was awesome!" Henry exclaimed. "I can't believe it actually happened!"

"Oh, no," Emma said. "You are so lucky it's Christmas Eve or there would be consequences for that little stunt of yours."

"Aw, leave the kid alone," James said. "It's not like he made out with Paige. He just gave her a peck on the cheek."

"Onstage! During the pageant!" Emma said.

"Well I'll say one thing," Snow said. "That was certainly the most memorable pageant I've ever been part of."

"Hey," Henry said. "Aren't Ruby and Granny supposed to be here?"

"They're coming around seven. They're closing the diner then."

"What are we supposed to do until then?" James asked.

"Make cookies," Snow said. Emma and James stared at her with matching expressions of confusion. "You heard me. I'm taking Henry over to the school. I have to drop off the props and we're bringing home our presents. You'll be fine. And no, you have no choice. We need cookies to leave out for Santa." With that, she and Henry both walked outside.

Regina smirked and settled down onto the couch. She grabbed the remote and turned on A Christmas Story. She had only been invited to come for dinner. She had even brought presents, pie and apple cider. She had no intention of baking cookies.

James and Emma made their way into the kitchen and started to sort through the ingredients.

"What did you do last time? That seemed to work out really well," James said.

"Um…I have no idea. I still think it was some kind of fluke.

"Alright then. Let's just get this over with."

It took three bowls, five spoons, twenty minutes and countless cups of sugar before Emma and James had a mixture that vaguely resembled cookie dough. Emma pulled a tray out of the cupboard and placed it on the counter, accidentally smacking James in the head with it in the process.

James dipped his finger into the cookie dough and smeared it on his daughter's face with a grin. Emma grabbed a spoon from a drawer and scooped up a big hunk of dough. She took aim and flicked it at James, who side-stepped, avoiding the flying glop at the last second.

Father and daughter watched as the dough arched through the air. And hit Regina smack in the middle of her head. Emma held her breath and James struggled to hold back his laughter. Regina slowly stood up and walked into the kitchen. Emma knew she was in for it.

Regina walked slowly and steadily, never taking her eyes off of Emma. Her lips were set in a thin line and she looked intimidating, but there was an almost imperceptible glint in her eye. She lifted the lid on a carton of eggs, pulled out an egg, cracked it on the counter and then opened it over Emma's head.

Emma gasped as raw egg dripped down her hair. James was laughing and Regina was smirking. Emma reached her hand into the bag of flour and grabbed a handful. She threw it at Regina, but the woman ducked and the flour hit James smack in the face. And that was it.

James reached into the fridge and grabbed a can of whipped cream. Emma claimed the bowl of cookie dough and Regina seized the egg carton. It was on.

~*oO0Oo*~

"So," Snow said as she helped Henry wrap one of his gifts to James. "What do you think the chances are that they wrecked the house?"

"Are you kidding? My mom's there. She's not going to use her magic, but she'll keep them in line."

"You're right. Let's finish these up so we can go have some cookies."

~*oO0Oo*~

Emma screamed as whipped cream came shooting at her face. She started blindly flinging cookie dough around the kitchen. Regina had long since run out of eggs and had started throwing sprinkles instead.

The door opened and Snow and Henry appeared in the doorway.

"Oh. My. God," Snow said.

"You guys had a food fight without me?" Henry whined.

"What happened?!" Snow asked.

Emma, Regina and James all stood up. Emma pointed at Regina, Regina pointed at James and James pointed at Emma. The image of the trio as children was only intensified when Snow heard cries of "He did it!" and "She did it!"

"I don't care who did it, just clean it up," Snow said. She put a hand to her head and sat down on the couch.

Henry looked at his grandfather and his mothers and laughed. James's face was still covered in flour and he had cookie dough, raw egg and sprinkles all over his clothes. Emma's appearance was very similar, but she had egg and whipped cream in her hair. Regina had cookie dough in her hair, whipped cream all over her face and…she looked shorter. And that's when Henry noticed that her dough-covered heels had been banished to the corner.

"Did you even make any cookies?" Henry asked.

"Um…define cookies," Emma said.

"How many different definitions of the word 'cookie' do you know?" Regina spat.

"I'll take that as a no," Henry said. "Now can I join in?"

"We should probably get this cleaned up," James said. "Ruby and Granny will be here any minute."

"Fine," Henry moaned. He grabbed some rags from the cabinet under the sink and passed them to Emma, Regina and James just as Ruby and Granny opened the door.

"Hey! We're…oh my god," Ruby said.

"What the hell happened here?" Granny asked as she set a bag down on the table.

"We, um…tried to make cookies," Emma said.

"Wait a minute," Regina said. "Why are we cleaning when I can just…" She trailed off and waved her hands. Instantly, the kitchen was clean and Regina herself looked as if she had never gotten involved in the food fight.

"Hey," Henry said. "No magic."

Regina started to wave her hand again to undo the magic, but Emma jumped in.

"That's okay, kid. I think we can let this one slide. I'm gonna go get cleaned up." She and James headed upstairs, leaving whipped cream footprints behind them. Regina sat on the couch and went back to her movie.

Snow stood up and gave Ruby a hug. They broke apart and then Granny smiled and Snow leaned into the old woman's embrace.

"It looks like Charming at least made the chicken stew," Snow said. She opened the large pot on the stove and tasted a spoonful. She smacked her lips together and wrinkled her nose. The stew tasted…odd. "Will you try some?" she asked. She held a spoonful out to Ruby.

"It tastes…beefy," Ruby said. She grabbed the plastic canister on the counter. "And this would be why. Beef bouillon cubes. He should have used chicken."

"Please tell me you…"

"Way ahead of you," Granny said. "We brought food. And cookies." She held out a platter of frosted sugar cookies."

"Don't worry, Snow," Ruby said. "This is going to be a great Christmas. You'll see. Besides, this is everyone's first Christmas together. This is the best time to start traditions."

"I suppose you're right. After the food fight, though, I'm just hoping no one destroys the house."

* * *

**I'll leave it up to you to think of what happened at the pageant where Henry kissed Paige and Emma and Regina broke baby Jesus. Feel free to use that as a prompt or something if you want to. If you do, let me know cause I want to see what you can come up with!**

**And after how mach sad/depressing/angsty Regina I've put in here so far, I needed to get some childish fun in too. Plus, I'm a sucker for Emma/James bonding. And cookies.**

**Life is calming down now, so I'm going to try to update again tomorrow. Thanks for reading and please review if you enjoyed!**

**~Candy :)**


	9. Santa's Coming Tonight, Tonight

**Woo! Another update! As always, you all are ah-mazing and I hope you all have a magical Christmas. Now onto the story!**

**So last chapter was childish fluff and now we get into the actual 'eve' part of Christmas Eve. I hope this pleases you all! And those of you that have never seen National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation might look at me strange, but anyone who has seen it will (hopefully) laugh at one part.**

**And kudos to whoever guesses where the chapter title came from!**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

**December 24th 7:30 p.m.:**

After half an hour, Emma and James made their way back downstairs. Emma's hair was still damp from her recent shower and she and James were both in clean, cookie dough free clothes.

"Can we eat now?" Henry asked. "I'm starving."

"Sure," James said. "The stew's on the…" He trailed off as he noticed the giant pot of stew that he had worked all afternoon on was in the sink.

"Sorry. You used beef bouillon cubes and it was no good," Snow said.

"I just used what Emma brought me."

Emma blushed and turned away.

"Don't worry about it," Ruby said. "Granny and I brought food from the diner. And cookies."

Everyone gathered around the table. Snow nudged James's arm. "Say grace," she said.

"Grace?" Emma asked with a grin. "She passed away thirty years ago."

Everyone except for Regina stared at Emma like she was crazy. Regina just smirked and responded, "The blessing,"

Emma looked rather surprised for a moment, but then lapsed into the Pledge of Allegiance.

Regina actually laughed. Snow tipped her head to the side. "What have you been drinking?"

"Oh come on," Emma said. "You've never seen National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation?" Seeing the blank looks on everyone's faces, she sighed. "Seriously? Regina's seen it and you guys haven't?"

Snow, James, Ruby, Granny and Henry all shook their heads. Emma just rolled her eyes. "Whatever. Let's just eat."

~*oO0Oo*~

The rest of dinner was quiet. The chicken, potatoes and rolls from the diner were delicious and finally, it came time for dessert.

Emma helped Snow carry in the platter of cookies and several pies, making sure to grab Regina's herself in order to avoid a mess like Thanksgiving. As soon as Emma set the pie on the table, Snow scowled.

"Relax," Regina said. "It's pumpkin, not apple. My tree is done for the winter."

Everyone dug into the food until there were just a few cookies left to leave out for Santa. By now, it was past eight and Snow turned toward Henry.

"Bedtime," she said.

"Can't I just open _one _present first?" he begged. "Please?"

"Come on, Mom," Emma said. "Let the kid open a present."

"Yeah, Snow," James said.

Ruby smiled. "You'd be the coolest grandmother ever."

"I'm his _only _grandmother ever. I get that title by default," Snow said. She tried to look stern, but all she could see were six sets of puppy-dog eyes staring back at her. "Fine," she sighed. "But just one, and then bed."

Henry grinned and raced over to the tree. He scanned the stack of presents until he found a clumsily wrapped rectangle with a bow and his name on it. He dragged it out and plopped down on the couch. He tore at the paper and gasped as he saw the worn, brown leather cover of a book.

The book was much smaller than his Once Upon a Time book, but as he flipped through it, he saw that it still contained fairy tales. Henry looked at the front cover. The book was Grimm Fairy Tales.

"Thanks, Emma!" he shouted as he jumped up and wrapped his arms tightly around his mother.

"You're welcome," she said. "Just don't go believing everything in this one. I've been told that the brothers Grimm exaggerated their stories."

"Of course they did," Henry said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "I'm not crazy."

"Alright then," Emma said. "Goodnight. Don't stay up too late or Santa won't come." She kissed his forehead and watched as he hugged all the other adults before dashing upstairs.

"We should probably get going," Ruby said.

"Oh no," Emma said. "No one's leaving just yet." She grabbed a bunch of board games from the shelf next to the TV and set them down on the coffee table. "You guys still need to teach me how to play that game you were playing at Thanksgiving. Who's in?"

"Me!" Ruby exclaimed. "I was really hoping we'd get to play again."

"She's got the car, so I guess I'm staying too," Granny said.

"I'll play," James said.

"I'm in," Snow said with a smile.

They all looked expectantly at Regna who finally sat down on the floor next to the coffee table.

"Cool," Emma said. "Mom, you come help me for a sec. The rest of you can set this up 'cause I have no idea what the hell you did last time."

Snow followed her daughter into the kitchen where they poured apple cider for Regina, egg nog for Ruby and James, peppermint tea for Granny and cocoa with cinnamon for themselves. They passed out the drinks and Snow turned on the radio.

When they sat down, the boards from Monopoly, Life, Risk, Candyland, Chess and Chutes and Ladders were set up side by side on the coffee table. Scrabble tiles were strewn randomly around the boards and cards and playing pieces from the various games were in different positions on different boards.

"Alright, what do I do?" Emma asked.

"Just play," James said as he picked up a card and started moving a little blue gingerbread man around the chess board.

Within ten minutes, Emma had figured out that the game had no real rules, but somehow everything made sense. She looked around and the scene was quite similar to the one that she had seen on Thanksgiving. Snow and Regina were shaking with silent laughter, Granny and Ruby were glaring at Scrabble times and James was just confused.

Regina paused her laughter long enough to take a sip of cider, but James grabbed a Monopoly token and she nearly choked on her drink. Snow actually fell off her chair and just laid there on the floor. Emma giggled and then started all-out laughing. It was just contagious.

~*oO0Oo*~

Granny was the first one to fall asleep. She leaned back in her chair and let her head flop back, her chest rising and falling with deep, even breaths.

James was next. He struggled to keep his eyes open, but finally, they closed and he started snoring softly. He didn't wake up, even when his body started to tip and he fell to the floor.

It took almost another hour before Ruby fell asleep, the white king from the chess board still in her hand.

Emma, Snow and Regina continued to play in silence for a while until Regina looked up at Snow.

"Permission to perform one bit of magic?" she asked.

"No," Emma snapped.

"Shut up, Emma. Depends on what it is."

Regina leaned over and whispered something in Snow's ear that made her face light up with a giant smile. "Go ahead," Snow said. "That'll be amazing!"

Regina snapped her fingers. Emma quickly checked her whole body, making sure that she hadn't been turned to stone or grown a tail or anything. Seeing that she hadn't changed at all, she went back to the game, but it wasn't long before all three women were fast asleep.

~*oO0Oo*~

Emma wasn't sure why she had woken up at first. The apartment was still dark, save for the twinkling Christmas lights and the flicker of the electric fireplace.

Then she heard footsteps. She propped herself up on her arm and blinked her eyes. Someone was standing next to the stockings that were hung on the wall.

"Henry," Emma said sleepily. "No snooping. It's too early. Go back to bed."

She heard a low chuckle and caught sight of red pants and black boots before she felt sleep calling her again. As she laid back down, only one thought was running through her head. Henry's pajamas were blue, not red.

Just as Emma was drifting off to sleep again, she swore she heard a deep voice say, "Merry Christmas, Emma."

* * *

**SANTA! OH MY GOD! Yeah. Just had to get that out there because I love Elf! And I had no intention of this chapter taking that turn, but it did and now I'm happy.**

**In other news, Christmas Vacation is one of my fave Christmas movies and the dinner scene makes me crack up every time. So, I just had to include it. And for some reason, Emma and Regina are the only ones that ever watched it. Huh. Weird.**

**I love all of you and I'm actually kind of sad that the end of this story is approaching. But it isn't done yet, so let's just live in the present and I'm just going to stop rambling and sing along to Feliz Navidad on the radio at the top of my lungs now.**

**~Candy :)**


	10. That Sentimental Feeling

**Hey guys! Look at this! Three updates in three days! I'm on a roll.**

**Congrats to Andi88 for correctly saying that the last chapter title came from Spongebob Squarepants! ****It's my fave christmas song EVER and I just had to use it. Now after the references in the last chapter, I have a nice, generic Christmas for you. But it's the Charmings plus Regina, Granny and Ruby. Is anything going to be generic?**

**Sorry if this is too confusing or sappy. I just…I had to. And I know there's not much reference to Santa in here, but the silver presents are supposed to be from him and he will come into more VERY soon.**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

**December 25****th**** 6:00 a.m.:**

Once again, Emma was woken up because of someone shaking her shoulder. She swatted the arm away and rolled over…and onto the floor. Her eyes snapped open and she realized that she was in the living room. Henry was standing over her, camera in his hands.

"Go back to bed," Emma said sleepily. "It's too early."

"Gramma said I could wake you guys up after six o'clock. It's 6:01. Now _get up_."

"Wait, why do you have your camera?"

"Blackmail material," Henry replied with a smirk. He snapped a photo of James who was curled up under a red blanket.

Emma sat up and noticed that Regina, Snow, Ruby and Granny all had red blankets on as well. Emma herself had the Santa Claus throw. She stood up and placed a hand on Snow's shoulder.

Snow blinked the sleep out of her eyes as she stared up at Emma. "What's going on?" she asked.

"It's Christmas day. Henry woke me up. And the presents from 'Santa' are still at the school."

Snow's eyes widened. "Fudge," she whispered. "What should we do?"

"Just let him open up what's here and surprise him later?"

"It'll crush him. He still believes in Santa."

"We'll figure it out," Emma said. She smirked as she noticed Henry taking pictures of Regina whose head and arms were resting on the Monopoly board. When he was finished, Henry started shaking her arm until she sat up. There was a Candyland card stuck to her cheek and one side of her hair was messed up.

Henry started snapping pictures like lightning until Regina swatted him away and swiped at her cheek until she knocked the card off. By this time, James, Ruby and Granny were starting to wake up. Henry dropped his camera on the couch and raced over to the stockings.

"Look!" he cried. "Santa came!"

"Did you…" Snow whispered to Emma.

Emma shook her head. She couldn't remember picking up the presents from the school last night, but there they were, piled underneath the tree. And there were other gifts too, wrapped in silver paper. Could it actually have been…? No. Santa wasn't real. Right?

Henry grabbed his, Emma's, Snow's and James's stockings off the wall. And underneath the stockings were three shoes. One each of Regina's heels, Ruby's boots and Granny's orthopedic shoes stuffed with treats.

Henry started grabbing presents from under the tree and passing them out to everyone. James and Snow sat down on the couch next to Emma. Ruby and Granny had somehow managed to stay in their chairs, but Regina was struggling to stand up.

Emma stood up and grabbed the brunette's hands to help her up.

"Jesus. You'd think it would kill you to wear something comfortable for once."

"Well I wasn't planning on falling asleep on the floor," Regina snapped.

Emma rolled her eyes and sat down on the floor next to her son. She grabbed hold of a silver-wrapped present and read the name. It was for…her. She set it down next to her and helped Henry pass out the rest of the gifts. There was at least one silver present for everyone, all of varying sizes. Finally, they reached the gifts that were wrapped in bright colors and patterns or shoved into gift bags.

By the time everything was distributed, only the top of Henry's head could be seen behind the giant fort of presents that he had constructed. Regina, Snow, Ruby and Granny all had their gifts stacked neatly in front of them. Meanwhile, Emma and James were building their own walls.

"Alright everyone," Snow said. "On the count of three, start opening. One…"

"Twothree!" Emma yelled. She grabbed a box and started ripping the paper off of it. She had had so many Christmases when she hadn't gotten a single present and now she was like a child, tearing off paper, sticking bows on her head and just having a great time.

"Ohmygosh!" Henry cried. "Look! I got a Death Star Lego set!"

"A pumpkin pie?" Ruby asked.

"Yeah. To apologize for almost stabbing you over pie on Thanksgiving," Emma said.

"A boxed set of Lord of the Rings!" James cried.

"Woah! All seven seasons of Supernatural on DVD!" Emma exclaimed.

"Very funny, Snow," Ruby said as she unwrapped a squeaky dog toy.

"Merry Christmas," Snow said with a smirk. She pulled the tissue paper out of a bag in front of her and gasped as she pulled out an apple.

"Merry Christmas," Ruby replied with a matching smirk.

After a few minutes, everyone had unwrapped most of their novelty gifts and were moving onto the good stuff.

"My sword," James said as he started to unsheathe the glittering blade.

"Oh, not in the house," Snow said. "I'm just envisioning all the ways someone could be stabbed or beheaded or impaled or…"

"Relax," Ruby said. She tore the paper off of a soft package. "My cloak! Granny, look! You can stop with the dungeon now."

"I don't know. It might be useful for Leroy in the future," Granny replied. She opened up a box and gasped as she saw the blood-red arrows.

"Oh Emma," Snow said as she saw her bow and quiver for the first time in twenty-eight years. "Where did you get all this?"

"Pawnshop. I still can't believe no one stormed it as soon as the curse broke. I mean, all your stuff is there."

"You just took it?" James asked.

"I _bought _it. I'm the sheriff. Sure, I bend the rules for myself, but I'm not just going to _steal_."

"Mom, you're not opening your presents," Henry said. Everyone turned to look at Regina who was still sitting there with a pile of gifts in front of her.

"Come on," Emma said. "It's Christmas. Open a damn box. Or actually…open the green bag and then the blue box and then a damn box."

Regina hesitated for a moment before reaching for the green bag. She slowly pulled the tissue paper out and held it in front of her as if it were a bomb about to go off. She reached inside and glared at Emma as she pulled out a…banana.

Emma couldn't help herself. She burst out laughing at the look on Regina's face. "You said your…your apple tree…it's done…so you n-need a new…a new fruit for winter," Emma said as best she could through her laughter.

Regina sat there for a moment before whipping the banana at Emma's head. That just caused the blonde to laugh harder and Snow, James and Ruby all started giggling.

"Open the blue one," Emma said. Regina shot one last glare around the room and grabbed the large box. She started picking at the tape. When she managed to get one corner up, she started pulling it at a pace that made Emma grab the box out of her hand and rip the paper off.

"There," she snapped. "Open it."

Regina opened the box and gasped as she saw what she hadn't seen in years. Her powder blue riding jacket and brown breeches. She didn't realize she was crying until a stray tear dripped down her face, creating a dark spot on the jacket.

"Thank you," she whispered.

"No problem," Emma said. "It was Belle's idea. She helped me out with almost every gift I got this year. Plus, not much of your stuff came over by the curse so it was either this or a cheesy ornament. So, Merry Christmas."

Regina looked at the other gifts in front of her. She was reluctant to put down the riding outfit, but she saw Henry's handwriting on one of the tags and she had to open it. She grabbed the box and this time, tore the paper off with the giddiness of a small child.

What she found made her tear up again and she decided that she was just going to have to stop opening gifts if she didn't want to have a full breakdown in front of everyone. Henry's gift was a digital picture frame.

"Take it out," Henry said. Regina obeyed and she turned on the frame. The tears started rolling as the pictures started. The first one was Henry standing in front of the apple tree with a sign that read _I_. The second sign said _love_. The third one was _you_. And the last sign said _Mom_.

The final picture was one of Regina and Henry together just over a year ago. They were standing in the yard and Regina was holding the camera out in front of them. They were both smiling and genuinely happy. Tears rolled freely down her cheeks.

Henry didn't say anything. He just stood up, knocking over his wall of unopened boxes of Lego sets in the process, and wrapped his arms around Regina in a way that he hadn't since he was a little kid.

"Well, since we're into the sentimental, parent-child love portion of the presents, I got you two something else," Emma said. She reached behind her and held out a box plain, cardboard box. Snow took it, opened the lid and gasped. James leaned over to see what it was and the look on his face mirrored his wife's.

"This is your…" Snow started.

"The mobile," Emma said. "I told you. The pawnshop is like the Storybrooke version of Target or Walmart."

"Well, truth be told, we got you a little something extra too," James said. "But it was all Snow's idea." He handed Emma a wrapped box. She tore off the paper and opened it up. Inside were pictures of Henry throughout his childhood.

"Regina helped me get a lot of the photos," Snow said. "I hope you like it."

Henry looked into the box and grabbed a picture. It was him on his first day of kindergarten. His hair was gelled back and he was wearing the most horrendous sweater vest. With shorts. "You gave her this one?" he demanded, turning towards Regina.

"You look very cute in that picture," Regina responded.

Ruby stood up. "Well, we should probably get going. You all probably want to spend the rest of the day together."

"No way," Emma said. "Without you guys it'll be all sentimental and awkward. Besides, it's seven and we still haven't had breakfast."

"Breakfast?" Granny asked. "I'm staying."

Ruby grinned and sat back down.

"Before breakfast, we have a gift for Henry and Regina," Snow said.

"You do?" Regina, Henry and Emma all asked at the same time.

"We do?" Charming asked."

"Yes, we do." Snow held out an envelope to Henry. "Open it with your mom."

Henry scooted closer to Regina on his knees and the pair tore open the envelope. Inside was a single photo of a chestnut horse with a white blaze on his face. Regina recognized the horse instantly. It was Flame. Her horse.

"Is this it?" Henry asked. He grabbed the envelope and started shaking it.

"He's up at the stables," Snow said.

"You bought me a horse?!" Henry cried.

"Flame was your mother's horse in Fairytale Land. All we did was give him back," Snow said.

The tears were pouring down Regina's cheeks now. Snow stood up and waded her way through the sea of wrapping paper so that she could get to the kitchen. Henry looked around trying to decide what to open first when he caught sight of the window.

"It's snowing!" he screamed. He raced over to the window and smiled at the sight of a good foot and a half of fluffy, white snow covering Storybrooke. Emma, James, Ruby and Granny all dashed over and watched the flakes drift lazily down from the sky.

Snow and Regina traded an almost imperceptible grin as Snow started to make pancakes. "Emma, come help me with breakfast. The day's not over yet."

* * *

**Woah. This is five whole pages in Word and over 2,000 words! Give it up for long chapters!**

**Yes, I gave Regina's horse a name. The name is Flame. (Oh god, please shoot me for actually typing that) **

**And as Snow said, the day's not over yet. Trust me, there will be much more crammed into the next chapter or two. And then there will be a New Year's chapter (just cause I have to) and possibly (if inspiration strikes) a chapter on the pageant. But seriously…if anyone wants to write about that, go **_**write **_**ahead. I'm sorry. I had to.**

**And I've got a new idea for a fic that I might do after this one. I'm not going to tell you anything, but I'm going to post a sort of prologue tonight or tomorrow to kind of see if anyone wants to read it. **

**I'm going to just shut up now and start working on the next chapter.  
Feliz Navidad! (Oh look! Spanish class does pay off.)  
~Candy :)**


	11. Wishes and Horses

**Oh my gosh! I didn't update yesterday! It's the end of the world! Nah…I just had the craziness of real life take over and this was not ready to be put up. But now it is!**

**Well, after all the heart-squeezing teary-ness that was the last chapter, I needed some fun. And even though this week has been dragging by (and there's still another day!) I've been obsessed with writing. Not that I'm complaining or anything…(although I'm kind of surprised none of you have)**

**I'm done here, so…Enjoy!**

* * *

**December 25****th**** 7:30 a.m.:**

"These are delicious, Snow," Ruby said as she bit into a pancake. No one else said a single word. They were all too busy devouring the cinnamon, chocolate chip pancakes. When the plates had been all but licked clean, Snow stood up.

"Can I go outside?" Henry asked. Flecks of candy cane and chocolate were already stuck around his face and he was practically bouncing as he spoke.

"I suppose," Snow said. "Emma's going with you though."

"Emma's what?" Emma asked.

"You're coming outside with me so I can try out my new sled."

"You're not even dressed yet."

"Fine," Henry sighed. He turned and raced up the stairs.

"So is this all we're doing today? Because I'm not going outside with the kid if he's got as much sugar as I think he does in his system."

"Well," James said. "All the presents are opened so really there's nothing to do except open everything and break new presents."

"He's right," Snow said. "Besides, Christmas only comes once a year. Let's enjoy it while we can." She made her way over into the living room and started picking up the crumpled balls of wrapping paper. She glanced absently under the tree and then did a double take when she noticed a small stack of envelopes. She grabbed one. It had Emma's name on it. Underneath was one for Henry. In fact, there was one for everyone.

"Do any of you know what these are?" Snow asked.

"What are they?" Emma asked as she stood up.

"If she has to ask, she obviously doesn't know," Regina snapped.

"Well then why don't we open them?" Emma retorted. She grabbed the envelope with her name on it and tore it open before anyone could stop her. She pulled out a single sheet of paper. Tears sprang to her eyes as she scanned the paper.

"What the hell is it?" Ruby asked.

"Just open your own," Emma said. She just kept reading. It was a letter. A letter that made her re-think every single Christmas she had ever been through before. It read…

_Dear Emma,  
Do you still remember that Christmas when you were five years old? You were on a trip to the mall from the children's home and you wanted nothing more than to leave. You argued with the woman who was holding your hand the entire time you were in line. You wanted nothing to do with me.  
I heard a lot of wishes that year. But yours was one that truly stuck with me. All you wished for was your family. Not just any family, but your real, true family. I promised you that one day, you would get that. I told you it would take time, but you still left looking upset. I wished there was something I could have done.  
But this year, you were so good. You broke a curse! You're not that sad little girl anymore. You've earned your family.  
I wish you and your whole family (even Regina) a very Merry Christmas and many more to come.  
~__Santa Claus_

Emma looked up. Everyone except for James was at least a little teary-eyed. James was just smiling. Henry came downstairs at that exact moment. He looked from Emma who had tears rolling down her cheeks to Regina who looked like she was about to start sobbing.

"What's going on?" he asked. "Is everything okay?"

Snow, Emma, Regina, Ruby and Granny all raced over to the little boy and wrapped him into a huge hug. James was still staring at his letter in awe.

"Need…oxygen," Henry gasped as he pushed his way out of the hug. "What happened to you?"

Snow wordlessly handed him his letter. Henry read it and started smiling like crazy. "That's so cool! He is real! Now can we go outside?"

"Wait a minute," Regina said. "I've got a better idea."

~*oO0Oo*~

"No way," Snow said. "I'm not getting on one."

"Come on," Emma said. "It'll be fun."

"I still can't believe I've lived in this town for twenty-eight years and I never knew there was a stable," Ruby said.

"Told you I wasn't the only one," Granny said triumphantly.

"Snow, come on. It won't be as fun without you," James said.

"No," Snow snapped. "I'll just wait here."

"I'll stay with you," Ruby said. "Even though it won't be Wolvestime for another week, anything about a wolf and a horse doesn't end well in my head."

"Suit yourselves!" Emma called as she swung onto the black horse James had saddled for her.

Regina and Henry were already walking lazily around the ring on Flame's back.

"Grip with your thighs, not your knees," Regina said. She had been pleasantly surprised to find that her old riding outfit still fit and that she still remembered everything about horsemanship.

"I'm trying," Henry said. "Why don't we just use a saddle like Grampa and Emma?"

"Because this is the best way to establish a relationship with the horse. He may be mine, but he's yours now too." She leaned in a littler closer to her son's ear and whispered, "Plus, without the extra weight of a saddle, he'll be much faster and we'll beat Emma and James in a race."

"We're racing?" Henry asked. He turned and looked back at Regina with a look that was both fearful and excited.

"Of course," Regina said as if it was obvious. "And you're riding with me. I've never lost a race."

"Are we going or not?" Emma asked.

"Ready?" Regina asked. Henry nodded and she turned Flame toward the gate.

"Be careful!" Snow called. "I don't want to spend the rest of Christmas with one of you in the hospital!"

"We'll be fine," James replied. He nudged his horse and followed Emma, Regina and Henry into the woods.

~*oO0Oo*~

For the first half hour, the trail ride was filled with easy jokes and conversation. And then they would remember Regina was there and the talking would stop. It wasn't until they reached an open, snowy field that the real fun started.

"Ready?" Regina asked. Henry nodded slowly again and Regina nudged Flame. The horse took the cue easily and bolted off across the field.

"Hey!" Emma cried. She leaned down low against her horse's neck. Comet surged forward and was instantly followed by James and his mount, Smokey.

Regina laughed openly as Flame ran. It had been a long time since she had felt this happy and even then, it was a different kind of happy. She pushed her horse forward as she noticed Emma starting to catch up. Henry was enjoying the race, but it was evident that he was also terrified. Regina grabbed both reins in her left hand and wrapped her other arm around her son.

The three horses ran for a full five minutes before Emma had to stop. She slowed to a walk and struggled to catch her breath. "This is supposed to be a workout for the horses, not me," she said.

"Horseback riding is actually very physical," Regina said, pulling Flame to a halt.

"She's right," James said. "Keeping your balance, moving your seat and cueing the horse all require strong muscles. And riding works muscles you don't work in daily life, so you'll probably be sore as hell tomorrow."

"You couldn't have told me that _before _I followed you out here?"

"Why don't we start heading back anyway? I think the horses are starting to get tired," James said. He led the way back onto the trail.

"Great," Emma said. "I could really use some candy canes right about…CRAP!" She screamed as Comet slipped on a patch of ice and sent her flying into the snow.

"See," Regina said. "If you bothered to work on your balance, that wouldn't have happened."

James was already off of his horse and helping his daughter up. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah," Emma said. She took a step forward and winced. Landing on the frozen ground on her butt was far more painful than she would have anticipated.

"Can you walk or do you want to ride?"

"I'll ride. It'll probably hurt, but it's the lesser of two evils right now."

~*oO0Oo*~

"Who do you think is dead at this point?" Ruby asked.

"My money's on Emma," Snow replied.

"Really?" Granny asked. "I'm betting Regina."

"Why?" Ruby and Snow asked together.

"With any luck, they lured her off into the forest to kill her."

"I don't know. Regina's a master on a horse. She saved my life. I don't think they'd be able to kill her if she has a horse under her. If Emma's not already dead, I guarantee you that she's fallen off at least once."

"You're probably right," Granny said with a grin. "But we can bet."

~*oO0Oo*~

Emma groaned with every step Comet took. Sure, it didn't hurt as much as walking, but the motion still hurt like hell.

As they walked into the stable yard, Snow breathed a sigh of relief and Granny silently slipped five bucks into Ruby's hand.

"Oh, thank goodness. You all are okay," Snow cried.

"Define 'okay,'" Emma said as she slid off the horse and started to limp towards the barn.

"What happened?"

"Emma just fell off," James said. "She's fine."

"She just 'fell off'?" Regina asked. "It was a ten-point flight and she stuck the landing."

Henry giggled and Regina hugged him a little closer.

Emma glared at the brunette and then turned back to Snow. "Well, I for one am ready to go home, sit on the nice, soft couch and watch Christmas movies and eat candy. Anyone else?"

"_After _I teach you how to put a horse away," James said with a grin.

"Sounds good to me," Snow said. "And you're welcome to come if you want to," she said turning to Ruby and Granny.

"I heard candy and movies. I'm going," Granny said.

"I guess I have to drive there, so I'll hang around too," Ruby said.

"Great," Snow said. "We'll meet you at the car when you're done with the horses."

Emma and Henry groaned. "Do I have to?" they asked at the same time.

"Yes," James said.

"Grooming and spending quiet time together is the best way to establish a relationship with the horse," Regina said.

"I thought riding without a saddle did that," Henry said.

"That too. Now let's go."

Emma huffed as she led Comet to his stall. Somehow, even through all the teasing and the falling and the smelly horse parts, this Christmas was the best one she had ever had. Because it was real and sincere. Her Christmas wish from twenty-three years ago had finally come true. She had found her true family.

* * *

**Look at this! A new person has decided to enter my head! Give it up for…Emma!**

**Emma: Why'd you have to make me fall? My butt hurts now.  
****Me: Relax. You can pick the movie next chapter.  
****Emma: Can it be National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation?  
****Me: No. We confused a lot of reviewers last time we used that.  
****Regina: What about It's a Wonderful Life?  
****Emma: NO!  
****Me: NO! Wait…Regina? Why are you back? You're in the story.  
****Regina: It's rather fun to annoy you.  
****Me: I hate you both.**

**So…yeah. Needless to say, I hate It's a Wonderful Life with a passion. And I love horses and I needed some Regina/Henry cuteness, so I had to add this in. **

**And if anyone wants to see what everyone else's letter from Santa said, I'd be more than happy to post them. I'll probably post them anyone because Henry nearly suffocated from a letter-induced group hug and I think people will be wondering about that.**

**Thanks for reading and please review!  
~Candy :)**


	12. Family

**Ready for more? I am! And today officially starts my Christmas break, so I now have a full week to post nonsensical crap to you all at all hours of the day (or night)! **

**This is the last chapter that will directly be about Christmas, but fear not! I'll post another two or three 'bonus chapters' for you all pretty soon.**

**I want to say a HUGE thank you to all of my amazing reviewers. Some of you leave me smiling for hours and others gave me great ideas. Without you, this story probably would have sucked.**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

**December 25****th**** 5:30 p.m.:**

Emma reached blindly into the cabinet under the TV and pulled out the first movie she touched. "We're watching…oh no, not that." She tossed Paranormal Activity back into the cabinet and pulled out another DVD. "You know what? I'm just going to stop picking like this," she said as she tossed The Ring away.

She leaned into the cabinet and found Elf. "Any objections?" she asked, holding up the movie. Not hearing anything, she crawled out of the cabinet and slipped the disc into the DVD player.

"Who's hungry?" Snow asked as she came into the room with a plate of cookies which she set down on the coffee table.

Emma, James, Henry and Regina, who were all exhausted from their trail ride, all started shoving cookies into their mouths like there was no tomorrow. By the time Ruby and Granny got to the plate, all that was left was a single chocolate chip cookie and some crumbs.

Emma started the movie and settled onto the couch between her parents. Henry stretched out on the floor, Regina sat on the far end of the couch, leaving a foot of empty space between her and Snow. Ruby and Granny took the chairs.

It only took around twenty minutes before Henry and Emma were both asleep. Emma's head was leaning on Snow's shoulder and Snow smiled. Her daughter was spending so much time with James lately that it was hard for them to have moments together. But this was perfect.

By the time the movie was over, James was struggling to keep his eyes open. Snow didn't have the heart to move and disturb Emma, so she just grabbed the remote and turned on A Christmas Story. Not far into it, Granny started snoring softly and Ruby's head rolled down onto her chest.

Regina and Snow watched the movie in silence. After it was over, Snow was going to find something else, but she remembered it was Christmas and the movie would be on a twenty-four hour loop. She struggled to keep her eyes open. There was no way she was going to fall asleep before Regina.

After a while though, she couldn't fight it any longer and she slumped over like a domino. Regina looked at the woman next to her and instinctually ran a hand through the short dark hair. As much as she would like to deny it, she still saw Snow as that poor little girl that she had saved. That little girl that had only wanted to make Regina happy.

Regina snapped her hand away quickly. Daniel's death was Snow's fault. He will still be alive and they would be happily married if not for Snow White.

It took only a few minutes more before Regina was asleep.

~*oO0Oo*~

"How many days in a row is this going to happen?" Emma asked sleepily as she gazed around the room. Everyone was asleep in various positions around the living room. It was December 26th. The day after Christmas. She sat up, the motion rousing Snow who in turn woke Regina.

Regina stood up quickly. "I should go," she said.

"What?" Snow asked.

"You can stay for a little while," Emma said. "At least until Henry wakes up."

"No, I'll just go. I've been here long enough."

"Regina? Is something wrong?" Emma asked. She stood up and walked closer to the brunette.

"I'm fine. I just…I'm going home."

Henry, always the master of bad timing, woke up at that moment. He stared at his mothers with bleary eyes for a moment before giggling. Both women and Snow stared at him until he said, "You two are under the mistletoe."

Emma and Regina looked up and sure enough, they were. They both backed away, looks of disgust mirrored on each other's faces. Henry giggled and then slowly sank back down onto the floor and fell back asleep.

"What's wrong?" Emma asked.

Regina faltered for a moment before answering, "If you _must _know, I'm feeling a bit off."

"Bullcrap," Emma snapped. "Why are you leaving?"

"It's none of your concern," Regina retorted. Truth was, she _was _feeling off, but she wasn't sick. She just felt…weird. And she didn't want to deal with it right now. But there was no way in hell she was opening up to Emma Swan like that.

Emma watched emotions flit across Regina's face and it clicked. They both had the same feelings. Emma glanced over at Snow who thankfully took the cue and walked upstairs.

"I know why you want to leave so bad."

"Oh really, Miss Swan? Then please enlighten me."

"I get it," Emma said. "You feel like maybe…just maybe, you've found your true family, but you can't get rid of that little voice in the back of your head telling you that it's all going to be taken away. And it's a weird mix of emotions, right? Happiness, anger, fear, sadness, love, etc."

Regina sank down into a chair and nodded.

"Well, it's your choice. You can leave if you want to, or you can claim your place in this family once and for all. As much as we both want Henry entirely, neither of us can fully have him. He wants me, but he needs you. He needs a family."

"Miss Swan, if you finish with any form of the statement 'I need you too,' I might very well turn you to stone."

"No," Emma said. "Wouldn't that be, like, incest or something? You're my grandmother!"

A small smile graced Regina's lips. She slipped on her heels so that she was slightly taller than Emma and turned towards the door.

"Come on, you Grinch," Emma said. "I poured my heart out there and you're just gonna leave?"

"Trust me," Regina said with a slight gleam in her eye. "You won't be rid of me that easily." With that, she turned and walked out into the Winter Wonderland that was the sleeping town of Storybrooke.

Emma knew that by the end of the day, Ruby and Granny would be gone, the movies would be on, Christmas carols would be playing and presents would be opened and broken. This Christmas had been…eventful, to say the least. She remembered the letter from Santa and smiled. For better or for worse, she had really found her family.

* * *

**Well, that's it. I know it probably wasn't what you were expecting (or good), but I'm in a warm and fuzzy mood today and I needed some fluff. So, yeah.**

**Like I said…bonus chapters to come. I hope you liked it!**

**Merry Christmas! **

**~Candy :)**


	13. New Year's Eve

**Happy New Year! I wanted to have this up earlier. Maybe on…I don't know…New Year's? But it wasn't ready and school's started back up and mid-terms are in like two weeks and I was kind of swamped. **

**Now though, it's ready and better late than never, right?**

**Anyway, Enjoy!**

* * *

**December 31****st**** 8:00 p.m.:**

"So what happens at midnight?" Henry asked. He had been so keen to stay up until midnight, but it was evident that he was already fading.

"You don't know?" Emma asked dramatically. Henry shook his head and Emma put a hand to her chest. "Midnight is when all the hobos fly into the night sky and dance until dawn."

"What?" Snow asked as she brought in a bowl of chips.

"You never heard that?" Emma asked with a wink. "It's the magic of New Year's."

"Your childhood really was…unconventional, wasn't it?"

James looked at the TV with an expression that said _I'm not going to get involved._

"You're lying," Henry said.

"Last I checked I was the one with the superpower, not you. If you want to find out so bad, you need to stay up and see for yourself," Emma said. "Now what are we watching?"

Before anyone could respond, they heard a knock. Snow set the chips down on the coffee table and went to open the door.

"Regina. What are you doing here?"

Emma looked over and saw Regina standing in the doorway with several bottles in her arms.

"I decided to take Henry up on the invitation to spend New Year's Eve here."

Emma, James and Snow all turned to look at Henry who shrank back into the couch cushions. "I just thought it would be nice if she came over," he said quietly. "After all, you've really been getting along better and Christmas was so much fun."

"What the hell?" Emma said. "Come on in, Grandma."

Regina had to fight the smile that crept across her face at the title and focus hard to be able to cast a simple glare in Emma's direction.

"What'd you bring me?" Emma asked like a giddy child as Regina set the bottles down on the kitchen table. "Apple cider, champagne, sparkling grape juice…oh, _now _we're talking. Scotch."

"Not until midnight," Regina snapped as she slapped the back of Emma's hand.

"What do we do until then?" Henry asked.

"You're staying up?" Regina asked.

"Yeah," Henry said. "I want to see the hobos fly."

"Hobos?" Regina asked turning to Emma.

"Yeah. You know; a migratory worker or homeless vagabond, especially one who is penniless."

"Thank you, Wikipedia," Regina mumbled as she kicked off her heeled boots. She hadn't been in the Charmings' apartment since Christmas, but it hadn't changed. The tree was still up, the lights were still twinkling and the remnants of craft projects were still littered around the room. She took a step forward and stifled a cry when a stray Lego met the bottom of her foot.

Emma just grinned and folded her arms across her chest. "World's best security system. For some reason, those sets Henry got came with extra pieces."

Regina scowled and limped over to the couch while still on the lookout for any other plastics bricks.

"Now as I asked before," Emma started. "What are we going to watch?"

"The Avengers!" Henry cried.

"No," Snow, James and Regina said at the same time.

"I could go for the Avengers," Emma said.

"You weren't dragged to the theater to see it three times," Regina said.

"Only three?" Snow asked. "I saw it four."

"Five," James said without looking up from the TV.

"Please?" Emma and Henry asked together. They moved next to each other and flashed matching sets of puppy dog eyes at the other three.

"Fine," Snow sighed. "Just put it in before I change my mind."

~*oO0Oo*~

About halfway through the movie, Emma reached blindly for the bowl of chips on the coffee table, but had to look when she plunged her hand into a bowl of…popcorn?

Sitting on the table were the bowl of potato chips, a bowl of popcorn, three bottles of Coke, a plate of brownies and a pumpkin pie.

"When did you put this stuff out?" Emma asked. She turned to look at Snow whose brow furrowed in confusion as she noticed the snacks on the table.

"I don't think I…never mind," Snow replied. She sighed and snuggled a little farther into James's side.

Emma shrugged and reached for the bowl of popcorn. If the food was there, she might as well eat it.

~*oO0Oo*~

The popcorn lasted until the end of the movie and when Emma looked down at it, she saw that it was still full. As the credits started rolling, she looked towards Regina.

"Must be the magic of New Year's," Regina said with a smirk as she stood up and brought the chip bowl into the kitchen.

"It's only eleven," Snow said, arching her back and stretching like a cat. "What should we do until midnight?"

"I've got an idea," Henry said. "Grab a flashlight and follow me."

Emma started to say something, but Henry had already slipped on his coat and snow boots and raced outside. Regina and Emma wasted no time in getting up and following him out into the dark.

"Do you think we should…?" Snow started.

"Maybe we should," James said.

"Yeah. We should."

They stood up and each grabbed a flashlight before heading outside where they could hear both Regina and Emma yelling for Henry.

Emma stood in the yard and looked around. After a moment, she remembered her flashlight and flicked it on. "Henry!" she called. "This isn't funny! Come on!"

"You're right!" she heard Henry exclaim from behind her. "It's hilarious!"

Emma shrieked as she felt a snowball collide with her back. "Henry, it's eleven at night. We're not having a snowball fight."

"Yes we are!" Henry called. He raced around the yard, packing more snowballs as he went.

"What is he doing?" Regina asked. She was already shivering and it was evident that her boots were not suited for the snow.

"I don't know," Emma said. "You were the one who poofed up the Coke. You couldn't have given him something like tea or warm milk?"

"I didn't think he would run outside in the middle of the night and start a snowball fight after drinking a little caffeine," Regina countered.

"How are we going to get them back in?" Snow asked, moving to stand next to Emma and Regina.

"Them?" they both asked at the same time. Snow gestured to the yard where Henry and James were pelting each other with snowballs and racing around in the beams of their flashlights.

Emma shrugged. "You know what? If you can't beat 'em…join 'em." With that, she took off across the yard and grinned as she started dodging and throwing snowballs.

Snow and Regina turned to each other with a look that said _what the hell _frozen on their faces before racing over to join in the fight.

~*oO0Oo*~

"Hey!" Emma shouted. "Stop for a sec!"

James, Snow, Henry and Regina turned to look at her.

"It's eleven fifty-five. We'd better get inside if we want to drink to the New Year."

"Last one in's a melted snowball!" Henry cried as he sprinted towards the door. Emma and James followed right behind him. Snow followed briskly and Regina trailed behind, slipping over the snow in her boots.

By the time they were all inside, Emma had brought the wine glasses and the champagne and grape juice over to the coffee table. Henry flipped the TV on to the celebration in Times Square and James started slicing the pumpkin pie that was still on the coffee table.

"That was…I don't think fun is the right word," Snow said. Her face was red and there was snow melting in her hair and on her coat.

"Suicidal maybe," Regina said. She stripped off her wet coat and snow-covered boots and shook the snow from her hair. "We'll be lucky if we don't all die of hypothermia now."

"Oh, relax," Emma said. "I think it was fun." Then her voice dropped to a whisper and she gestured to Henry who was fighting to keep his eyes open on the couch. "Plus it tired him out."

"One minute," James said. He poured grape juice for Henry and champagne for everyone else.

Snow and Emma plopped down on either side of him and Henry snuggled into Emma's side. Regina sat down next to him and ran a hand through his hair.

"Ready?" James asked. "Five…four…three…two…one."

"Happy New Year!" Emma exclaimed. She helped her father hand out the glasses and smiled.

Snow and James leaned in for a kiss and Regina and Emma both leaned down and kissed one of Henry's cheeks. Henry stood up and raced over to the window.

"There aren't any hobos," he said. "You're such a liar."

"Maybe it doesn't work because there aren't any hobos in Storybrooke. Next year we'll spend New Year's in Boston or New York and you'll see."

"To the New Year," James said choosing to ignore his daughter and grandson's conversation. "May it be our best one yet."

"I'll drink to that," Regina said and she took a sip of champagne.

"Grandma?" Henry asked as he shifted and sipped his juice.

"What's wrong?" Snow asked.

"That family tree project that's due next week. How do I do that?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, I'm Emma's son, but I'm also her uncle because I'm her grandmother's son and I'm your brother because I was adopted by your step-mother."

"Okay," Emma said. "I knew our family tree was messed up, but I didn't realize it was _that _bad. You need some friends."

"Henry, you are really over-thinking this. We'll figure it out later," Regina said. She stroked his hair again and then looked over at Emma and mouthed _How did he figure all that out? _Emma just shrugged.

"You're right," Henry said. He yawned and let his eyes fall closed.

"You assigned a family tree project?" Emma asked looking over at Snow.

"I thought it'd be…entertaining," Snow said. "But right now, we're not focusing on that. It's a new year and I want to focus on my family. Even if one of them did kill my father."

"You told my mother about Daniel," Regina snapped being careful to not move and wake Henry.

"You sound like little kids," Emma said.

"You weren't around at the height of it," James said.

"I apologized for shooting you with the arrow, but you were the one that got in the way," Snow said.

"What was I supposed to do; let you kill Regina?"

"Yes," Snow said.

"What happened to focusing on family?" Emma asked. "And it's a good thing you didn't kill Regina, because if you had then we never would have come to this land and we'd never be the family that we are now and Henry wouldn't have been born. It's New Year's. You don't have to forgive and forget, but you've been making a big effort and maybe you should just settle for keeping that up."

"You're right," Snow said.

"Am I ever not? Now someone get a damn camera. I think this is a picture perfect moment."

"No," Snow said. "No pictures. Let's just remember."

And there they sat for almost an hour, sipping champagne and listening to Henry's quiet snores. After a while, Regina stood up to leave, but unlike the day after Christmas, she took her time slipping on her boots and coat. Snow and James were both asleep and Emma stood up.

"You're leaving?"

"I have to get home. I need to make sure I'm not going to die of pneumonia after that snowball fight."

"Oh shut up. You know you had fun."

"Maybe I did," Regina said with a smirk. "I think I could get use to this family."

"Same here, Grandma."

"Don't call me that. It makes me feel old."

"It should. Wouldn't you be, like, sixty something if you had aged normally?"

"I'm thirty-four if you know what's good for you," Regina snapped. She grabbed her bottle of cider off the table and started towards the door.

"Is this how it's always going to be?" Emma asked. "We have a great family thing and then you just stalk out?"

Regina paused for a moment before responding. "Most likely. Why?"

"No reason. In fact, I wouldn't have it any other way. Happy New Year."

"Same to you Miss Sw…Emma," Regina said quietly. "Enjoy the scotch."

Before Emma could say anything else, Regina disappeared out the door. Emma sighed and went back to sit down on the couch again. Her family was so screwed up, but she wouldn't have it any other way.

* * *

**I think I could make a blanket out of all the fluff I just wrote. Oh well, I gave you a new chapter so there. I'll have a few more bonus chapters (letters and pageant coming soon) up in the near future. **

**Yes, when I was younger, my mom tricked me into thinking the hobos would fly at midnight. I was a gullible child. And midnight snowball fights are tons of fun. I highly recommend them if you don't mind getting covered in snow (at least, me and my friends get covered in snow cause we trip over things that aren't there). **

**Anyway...in six hours, Once will return! I'm so excited!**

**Thanks for reading and please review!  
~Candy :) **


End file.
